


f'(x)

by sixbeforelunch



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Calculus, Friendship, Gen, Incidentally Bruce is not Tony's only science bro, Math, Maya Hansen lives (because I said so), Science Bros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-09
Updated: 2014-05-09
Packaged: 2018-01-24 02:12:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1587869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sixbeforelunch/pseuds/sixbeforelunch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A spy, an Air Force officer, and a superhero walk into a science lab. This is not a joke. It has potential, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	f'(x)

Natasha leaned against the unoccupied end of the lab table on the far side of the room. On the other side of it, Maya Hansen was peering into a microscope and making notes on a tablet with her finger. "They've been at it all morning," Maya said, without taking her eyes off of what she was doing.

Jane was gesturing with a dry erase marker in a way that suggested she just might take out the eye of the next person who dared to contradict her. Tony rolled his eyes and made a blah-blah-blah gesture with one hand, heedless of the tiny but fierce marker-wielding astrophysicist in front of him, and her nigh-immortal alien boyfriend (not present but no doubt around somewhere) who had pledged himself to protecting her honor, professional and otherwise, wherever it might be threatened. Bruce had taken up a spare marker and was making corrections to a formula. He paused to look at Jane and Tony and say quietly, "You're still both wrong, and saying it louder doesn't make you right."

Sam whistled low under his breath. "At what point is this going to turn into a slap fight?"

"That only happened once," said Rhodes, sounding pained. "To be fair, Tony was pretty messed up at the time."

"I lost track of what they're arguing about an hour ago," Maya said. "They really aren't getting anywhere."

"Not with that math they aren't," Jim said, and stepped into the fray. "Hey, geniuses! Did the rules of single-variable calculus change while I wasn't looking, or is the derivative of cosine theta still _negative_ sine theta?"

There was a long pause. Maya laughed into her microscope. 

Sam stared after him as Jim plucked the marker out of the hand of a frozen Jane Foster and started scribbling corrections.

"Huh. I did not see that coming," Sam said.

"Five year dual BS/MS from MIT and a PhD in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology," Natasha murmured.

"And yet, he seems so normal, most of the time," Sam said. He looked at her. "Also, did you memorize everyone's CV?"

Natasha shrugged. "Well, we lost Rhodes. Are you still up for ice cream?"

"Ms. Romanoff, I am always up for ice cream."


End file.
